Less than 24 hours after the Columbus Blue Jackets eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs from playoff contention in their qualifier series, Jackets head coach John Tortorella showed his support for Maple Leafs' rookie bench boss Sheldon Keefe.  

Keefe and the Maple Leafs received criticism after failing to advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the lower-seeded Blue Jackets and were unable to score a single goal in Game 5.

Tortorella began his news conference on Monday coming to the aid of Keefe.

"I just can't get over people ripping Sheldon Keefe and his staff, as far as the job he's done with the Maple Leafs team," he explained. "They have done a terrific job with that team. This was after the series and all that...some of the things I read, some of the things I watched last night...half the pundits in this city think they know the game, but they really don't. 

"It just pisses me off for a fellow coach in this league, and I know it's Toronto, a great city, great hockey town, love being here. But, some of the things he's criticized for are beyond belief, and it just shows that people have no clue what's going on in this game. I just want to support him. I'm glad we won, but I want to support him and his staff have done a terrific job with that hockey club."

Keefe, 39, coached the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies from 2015 to 2019 before taking over for the fired Mike Babcock on the Leafs in November of this season. He posted a 27-15-5 over 47 games in his first season of coaching in the NHL.

Columbus will now battle the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs, a rematch of last year's series when they shocked the No. 1 ranked Lightning with a four-game sweep.